Sierra Leone 2013

One June 22 our Sierra Leone appeal hit our £1000 target, two days ahead of the closing date for donations. This means that we are delighted to say we will be able to send the 40 boys from Sektars Football Club, based in Makeni, to school for one year and also provide them with football coaching and matches for the same period. Our More Than a Game Sierra Leone appeal was started after volunteering and working together with the Craig Bellamy Foundation and the Collective Sierra Leone in Makeni, northern Sierra Leone. We felt that we needed to do more to help the people of Sierra Leone and, after volunteering in west Africa for two months, decided this appeal was the answer. We want to thank everybody who donated their hard-earned cash to this appeal:And so, a million thank yous go out to:Paul Featherstone, Laurent Dathie, Footbaltic, Graham Williams, Kelvin Hooke, Josu Samaniego del Campo, Alexandra Flemming, Gordon Hamilton, Jaime Morris, Ed Russel, Jane Pannell, Atheen Spencer, Shaun Gisbourne, Erika Medene, Rupert Williams, Maureen Robinson, Bernadette Samuels, Neil Mathieson, Alan Davies, John Mottram, Graham Foster, Lindsey Langford, and Michael Finch.Without all of you, we could not have achieved this. Your efforts will improve the quality of life of a lot of little boys in west Africa.

More Than a game would like to extend our thanks to Graham Willaims, Laurent Dathie and Footbaltic for their kind donations to the More Than a Game Sierra Leone appeal. The running total now stands at £775, with just a few days remaining until the fund raising closes. We will try to extend the fundraising period by a couple of extra weeks, so we can raise the extra £225 we need to hit our £1000 target.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013After a quiet couple of weeks for the More Than a Game Sierra Leone Appeal, we received our latest donation a couple of days ago from Josu Samaniego del Campo (pictured above). The Spaniard, who lives in Riga and plays football for Riga United Football Club, donated his hard-earned cash to the boys of Sektars FC, playing in the Craig Bellamy Foundation League,who we are sponsoring and sending to school for the next 12 months, with the inspiring words:

"I am donating to this fund because football needs Africa and Africa needs football".

Josu plays centre-forward for Riga United FC and is also studying for his UEFA C coaching badge at the moment. His side play their first match in the Latvian Second Division, when they take on Adazi at 16:15 in Riga on May 11.

The amount so far raised for our Sierra Leone Appeal now stands at £725. The target is £1000.

Friday, April 19, 2013Many thanks to Alexandra Flemming for her kind donation to the More Than a Game Sierra Leone appeal. The total so far donated is now £685, taking us ever closer to that magical £1000 we need to raise. We now have 67 days left to raise the extra £315 needed. For more information:www.givengain.com/activist/92295

More Than a Game will sponsor Sektars FC for the next 12 months. Agreement has been reached with the Craig Bellamy Foundation to sponsor the Sektars FC under-12s and under-14s. Sektars FC play in the Makeni league in Sierra Leone.Here is a description of the club as featured on the Craig Bellamy Foundation website:

Sektars FC are a product of two young men from two rival communities, whose friendship surpassed the differences between the two areas. Their dream was always to set up a football club that would unite the two communities and help people move past their differences. Sadly one of the young men would lose his life in the civil war but in tribute his friend became ever more determined to fulfill their shared dream. In 2005, this was achieved with the formation of Sektars FC.To date we have collected £655. We need to reach a target of £1000. This will send the 40 boys playing for Sektars FC under-12s and under-14s to school for one year and will also pay for their participation in the league, regular coaching, equipment, water etc.If you would like to help the boys of Sektars FC, then please follow the link below:Support Sektars FC in 2013.

More Than a Game would like to extend our thanks to Gordon Hamilton for his kind donation to our Sierra Leone appeal. We met Gordon on the boat to Freetown airport as we departed Salone. Gordon has been committed to taking Sierra Leone forward for many years. You can read about his good work with the Sierra Leone Mission by clicking on this link.

More Than a Game would like to extend our thanks to Ed Russel, Paul Featherstone, Jane Pannell and Jaime Morris, who are the latest friends to kindly donate their hard-earned cash to our Sierra Leone appeal in support of 40 children going to school and playing football in the Craig Bellamy Foundation league.Their donations have taken the running total well past the half way mark of £500, with the total so far raised now £635 - approximately $1000.

Volunteering in Sierra Leone

More Than a Game joined The Collective and the Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leone for a seven-week voluntary placement in January 2013.You can read detailed blogs and photos of this experience below and by clicking on the 'archives' for January, February and March.

During March and April 2013, we continued to bring you news about More Than a Game's fundraising appeal and posted more photos from our time in Sierra Leone.